Chestnut Street to be reconstructed by town with state funding

Wednesday

May 16, 2007 at 12:01 AMMay 16, 2007 at 4:15 PM

Steven Ryan

The state had set aside $2.4 million in the fiscal 2007 budget for repairs to Chestnut Street. The initial plan would have had the state reconstruct the road with the money and then return authority to the town.

“We’ve been working for 20 years for them to reconstruct the road and give it back to us,” Town Manager Kate Fitzpatrick said.

MassHighway officials had up to June 30, 2007, to use the money or it would return to the General Fund. The state-owned portion of Chestnut Street runs from the intersection at Marsh Road to the Dover line.

“The problem was that the state wasn’t going to get to the project in a timely fashion,” state Rep. Lida Harkins, D-Needham, said. “I spoke to Gov. [Deval] Patrick about it, and he indicated to his aides that he’d like to get the project done for me.”

The new deal, which was struck at a meeting between Harkins, state Sen. Scott Brown, R-Wrentham, and town and MassHighway officials, on Monday, May 7, would allow the town to make the necessary repairs on the road with the money earmarked in the state’s FY07 budget. The town sought approval for the agreement at Special Town Meeting this week.

“It was harder for the state,” Fitzpatrick said. “There are so many projects to be done that it didn’t get to the top of the list. Now it is.”

There are two intersections along the state-owned portion of Chestnut Street that have troubled town officials for years. The intersection of Chestnut and High Rock streets has seen 31 accidents from 2004 to 2006, according to police.

The intersection of Chestnut and South streets has also been a concern. There were 27 accidents at the intersection from 2003 to 2006, police said. The town wants to use the state funds to install traffic lights at both intersections.

Fitzpatrick said the new deal also gives the town more freedom in the reconstruction, which would have been held to strict state guidelines if it had been done by MassHighway. One of the guidelines requires full sidewalks on both sides of the roads.

“Now we own the project,” Fitzpatrick said. “We can work with the community on the best design.”

Harkins said the increase in the price of asphalt has pushed the cost of reconstruction beyond $2.4 million, but added the town will use Chapter 90 funds, which the state sets aside for road projects, to make up the difference.

“I’m delighted it’s finally going to get done,” Harkins said. “It’s been a long time coming.”